


Thanks But I'll Pass

by Kivea



Category: South Park
Genre: Comedy, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 17:49:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13393068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kivea/pseuds/Kivea
Summary: It's not that Tweek isn't grateful that Kenny's gone out of his way to make him soup while he's ill. But he has seen Kenny read weird spell books and be really into magic stuff so can anyone say for CERTAIN that this soup isn't going to turn him into a toad?





	Thanks But I'll Pass

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: ‘I’m sick so you make me chicken soup and I’m really grateful but I’ve also seen you read books on magical spells and potion-making so I’m not sure if I should drink your soup in case it turns me into a toad’ -- dailyau.tumblr.com

He felt like death. Like a train had driven through his room and across his bed during the night. He was fairly certain it would be an incredibly unpleasant way to die but this  _felt_ like he was dying, so it didn’t seem like too far of a stretch. He’d tried to get up, go to school, do  _something_ to avoid ending up with a big red absence mark on his record so that it didn’t escalate into an inquiry in his awful attendance again and detention that he would then cough and choke his way through, spreading his germs across to everyone else in the poorly vented chamber they held detention in, but it just wasn’t happening. 

Tweek was too sick. 

He stumbled down the stairs in a cold sweat, accepting the coffee his father suggested he drink to perk himself up with, and promptly regurgitated it into the sink. His mother tsk’ed at his father and took him back to bed, telling him not to move from there for the rest of the day else he might pass out and knock his head. 

He didn’t really want to pass out and knock his head. 

Instead he did as he was told, hearing his parents leave the house for work, and eventually fell into a restless sleep. 

He went through the same motions the next day, getting out of bed and attempting to get ready for school, though this time half way through putting his trousers on he fell into his bedside table with such force his lap and phone went tumbling down, alerting his mother to his state again. She came up, got him back in bed, and promised to get him some painkillers. 

She must’ve forgotten, or was too busy getting ready for work, because about ten minutes later he heard the door slam shut again. He definitely got his memory from his mother. 

He slept through the pain again, stirring twice for texts from his friends at school, and once as the door opened once again. 

His eyes fluttered open, noting his rumbling belly and the numbers of his phone blinking to tell him it was about lunch time. He buried his head further into his pillow and fell back to sleep, not ready to face the world. 

When he woke up it was to the smell of something tasty and warm, blinking his eyes open to reluctantly face the light of day. He heard the door close once again and pushed himself to a sitting position, looking over at his bedside for his phone to check on the time. 

Instead he found a bowl, filled with a creamy substance, and a bread roll next to it. Behind the bowl was a glass of water and two small, white pills. 

He found the energy to sit up properly and devour the food presented, thankful that his mother had eventually remembered she’d promised painkillers. 

The next day Tweek was feeling marginally better, though his mother caught him before he started getting ready for school. After taking his temperature she declared he needed at least one day more before he was fit enough to go back to school. He whined about it, but relented after a coughing fit ruined any defence he had. 

He requested more painkillers, which she nodded her head and agreed to, disappearing and coming back with water and pills before leaving this time. She gave him a book and promised to be home soon with a small kiss on his forehead before disappearing for the day. 

He was awake when he heard the door go, jumping as the noise broke him from his revere. There was noise of someone moving about downstairs and he finished the chapter he was reading as fast as he could so he would be able to be ready for the soup his mother brought him. 

The door to his room opened. He looked up and let out a shriek as a figure entered his room that was  _not his mother or his father mayday what the-?!_

“Kenny?!” 

The blonde stopped short in the doorway, bowl in one hand, and a bread roll in the other and his mouth. He recovered and stepped into the room fully, taking his time in putting the bowl down on Tweek’s beside, the roll next to it. 

“What are-who told you-is-is-?!” 

“I’m on lunch,” Kenny started as he picked at his own bread. “So I figured I’d come get you food. Your parents told me you were ill, when I took the delivery to them a couple days ago. I was here yesterday, but I didn’t wanna wake you up. Was-uh-was the soup okay?” 

His heart thudded against his rib cage at the bashful look on Kenny’s face. “You-you made me that soup?” 

“Yeah. I do it for Karen all the time when she’s ill.” 

Tweek could see that. Kenny always struck him as a good big brother. 

“It’s probably too hot to eat right away,” a dashing smile. “I kinda expected you to be asleep again so I cooked it real good, to try make it stay warmer longer. I don’t wanna have you eating cold soup.” 

“Thanks, man. You-you-oh god, you’re not going to get in trouble for skipping school, are you?!” 

Kenny laughed it off. “Nah, I’ll be back by next period. So I can’t stay long.” 

A distressed noise escaped his lips, a million and one scenarios running through his head on how long it would take for Kenny to get back to school and all the things that could cause it to be longer than the boy thought. Tweek was  _not_ convinced Kenny had thought this through. 

“I did it yesterday.” 

“Yes, but today isn’t  _yesterday_.” 

Kenny reached forward, ruffling the mess of a birds nest on Tweek’s head, with a crooked grin that showed off the missing tooth he had from a fight in sixth grade. “Don’t you worry your pretty lil’ head about it. Do you need anything else?” 

“N- _nngh_ -no, I should be fine. Thanks. For everything.” 

Kenny gave a light laugh, a flush appearing on his face. “It’s no big deal, really. Just-uh-get better soon, yeah?” 

“Yeah. I’ll try.” 

Kenny ducked his head and rushed from the room. Tweek didn’t consider the soup until the sound of the front door slamming echoed through his house. 

He turned to the bowl of steaming creamy goodness next to him, though it took on a much more sinister look now that he knew it wasn’t his mother who had made it for him. It had tasted nice, like his favourite canned brand from the store, but  _Kenny_ had made it. 

Not that he didn’t  _appreciate_ the boy going out of his way to make Tweek lunch, but… 

Tweek had seen the kind of books and literature Kenny was into. There was no telling that this wasn’t actually a potion and would turn him into a frog. 

“Jesus,” he whispered out, tugging at a lock of blonde hair as he narrowed his eyes at the soup. Kenny read books on spells, and was into wizards and princesses, and liked fantastical things. He once found a large black tomb in Kenny’s bag while they were studying that looked horrendously ominous and-! 

It wasn’t worth the risk. 

But he drank the soup yesterday and he was fine, right? 

But maybe it took a few days to set in. Maybe he was  _already_ on his way to becoming a toad, or maybe you had to be fed the potion repeatedly for it to happen. 

Tweek curled in on himself in the bed, a rush of shame coursing through him as he realised he’d already made up his mind. He wasn’t eating the soup. He would just tell his mother he hadn’t been hungry when she got home, and pretend to Kenny that he had. He didn’t want to incur the wrath of a witch, or end up farting chicken eggs, or whatever it was hexes did to you. 

But the sentiment was nice. The fact that someone had taken time out of their day, just for  _him_ , left a warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach. 

The smell of the creamy soup left a growling in his stomach as well, but once it had gone cold and he’d grown used to the smell, that was much easier to ignore. 

* * *

By the time his door opened again he’d completely forgotten about the bowl on his bedside table, back to being absorbed in his book. He’d managed to get out of bed a total of three times in order to go to the bathroom and find more painkillers in that time. Food? Food was for the  _weak_. 

He let out a startled squeak as someone knocked on his door, not having heard the door downstairs. He wasn’t surprised when the door opened to reveal a raven haired teen on the other side, thick brows pulled together as he stepped into the room fully. 

“Hey,” Craig greeted. “You feeling any better?” 

Tweek nodded furiously. “Yes. M-mom thinks I can go back to school tomorrow.” 

“Good. I brought my notes from some of our classes.” 

He gave a grateful smile. Craig knew how he worried if he missed class. You don’t know which week they’d teach you something that would then end up coming on the test, and if you weren’t even present for the class where they explained it how would you know that it was relevant? 

“Have you-hey,” Craig’s voice dipped down as his brows pulled further together, finger jabbing in the direction of the forgotten bowl. “This. You didn’t eat this?” 

Tweek grimaced. “I-I was weighing the pros and cons.” 

“The pros and cons?” Craig repeated with a disbelieving voice. “What pros and cons? It’s soup, you’re ill.” 

“Kenny brought it for me.” 

“I know. I told him which soup you liked.” 

Tweek stopped short. 

“He came over to me yesterday morning on this big spiel about how he didn’t trust your parents to feed you lunch instead of looking after the coffee shop all day.” 

“Wha-why did you  _tell him_?!” 

Craig shrugged. “I agreed with him. I also didn’t trust your parents to feed you lunch.” 

Tweek glared up at the boy. 

“So, why didn’t you eat it, huh?” 

“ _Kenny_ ,” Tweek pressed, dropping his voice in case anyone was listening. “He-he’s like, into spells and shit.” 

Understanding flashed across Craig’s face, followed by a groan before his friend dropped down to sit on the bed next to him, bag landing on the floor with a solid thud. “Seriously?” 

“Yes, seriously! I’ve seen him, Craig, during study hall and maths when he thinks no one’s looking. He reads books about-about witches and stuff!” 

“Kenny hasn’t poisoned your soup.” 

“How do you  _know_  that? For fact?” 

Craig scoffed. “Apart from the fact that there’s  _no such thing_ as magic?” 

Tweek glared. 

“Do you really think Kenny would do that to you?” 

“I don’t know, Craig! That’s why I was weighing the pros and cons!” 

“Alright, fine,” Craig shifted on the bed so he was sat cross legged, looking straight at Tweek. “Do you think Kenny is a good guy?” 

“Well, yeah, I guess. He’s kind of an ass sometimes, but he’s good. He’s my friend.” 

“Right, he’s your friend. And even if-in the  _impossible_ event-that Kenny knew witchcraft or whatever, do you trust him?” 

Tweek hesitated. He glanced over at the soup, sat harmlessly on his bedside, staring right back at him. 

“You can say no. You can say no and I’ll go throw it out and-I dunno, make you a sandwich or something.” 

“I trust him.” 

“Alright,” Craig nodded. “Good. I’ll go warm up the soup, alright?” 

“Thanks.” 

“Sure, whatever,” the teen fished a couple of books out his bag. “Here, I book marked the pages we worked on. Do that while I go sort out your late lunch like some kind of  _mother_.” 

Tweek put his head down and studied the books he was given. When Craig returned with the soup he turned his attention to eating and let his friend read out the passages and explain anything he didn’t understand, though he faltered as they hit things Craig didn’t even understand, waving it off with ‘I dunno, ask Token’. 

Craig got ready to leave once his parents got home, not wanting to sit through another Tweak family dinner, pausing only to look over his shoulder. “Hey, Tweek?” 

“Yeah?” 

“It’s probably a good thing you trust Kenny.” 

He bit down on his lip, scowling in confusion. “Wh-why?” 

There was an almost evil  _smir_ _k_. “I’m pretty sure he’s got a huge crush on you.” 

“What?! Craig what the fuck- _Jesus_ -why would you say that?!” 

Craig snorted with laughter. “You should’ve seen him yesterday. Oh, Craig, I’m so worried, he deserves so much  _better_ , wah-wah-wah.” 

“Get out my room!” 

Craig vanished from the house, leaving him with photos of notes and with the book he’d been reading all day. He let out a cry of frustration at the embarrassment taking over his features, not quite prepared to deal with any teasing from his friend about whether or not the McKormick kid had any feelings towards him. 

Maybe it wasn’t a potion to turn him into a toad. Maybe he should’ve been worried about a love potion instead. 

* * *

Thankfully his mother did declare him fit for school the next day, and Tweek was out the house in a matter of seconds. Staying cooped up in his room was making him a little stir-crazy, and while he was glad Craig had brought him round some school work so he didn’t fall too far behind the boy was a fucking awful tutor. 

He apologised to each of his teachers, who in turn made sure he was feeling better before giving him any homework he’d missed. The day continued like it normally would, passing by until lunch time, where he was resolved to apologise to a final person about being ill. 

He approached the table the boys usually sat at, seeing Clyde and Cartman in a very heated discussion about some kind of junk food joint that had recently opened up, Craig providing a sufficient distraction for Kyle who looked ready to turn round and punch one of them in the face. Tweek found himself drawn to Stan, eyes flickering about for the fourth boy in his gang. 

“Hey dude, you feeling better?” 

Tweek nodded at the question. 

“Glad to hear it.” 

“Where-where’s Kenny?” 

Stan chuckled at the question. “He’s off. Sent us a text earlier today, said he’s come down with a bug.” 

Tweek’s eyes blew wide. That was his fault, wasn’t it? He’d given Kenny whenever bug he’d had and now the blonde would be at home, all on his own,  _dying_ from the same pain that Tweek wouldn’t wish on  _anyone_. 

“Don’t worry about it, man. Kenny’s got a weird habit of bouncing back quickly.” 

“Is-is he gonna be okay?  _Oh god_ are his parents there to-to look after him-or-or?!” 

Cartman gave a crude laugh. “Yeah right, like  _Kenny’s_ parents give a rats ass about-!” 

Kyle nudged the larger teen harsh in the side. “Shut up, Cartman.” 

“What? I’m just  _saying_. Can’t help the  _truth_ , Kyle.” 

Tweek imagined the usually laid back, smiley blonde looking pale and bedridden, lacking any painkillers or soup because he’d bought Tweek soup the two days before, because he  _knew_ they didn’t have it in their house so that meant Kenny must’ve-! 

“Hey.” 

The blonde snapped his head over to Craig, who was looking at him with his usual deadpan expression. 

“He’ll be fine.” 

“I-I’m gonna go over.” 

Craig’s brows rose. 

“It’s the least I can- _nn_ -do, after he did the same for me.” 

“I’ll give you a lift,” Token spoke up. “If we go now we can be back in time for class.” 

Tweek didn’t argue. Instead he followed Token dutifully towards his car in the school’s parking lot, shuffling in the passenger seat and requesting they stop at the supermarket so he could get something for Kenny to eat. 

He picked out three different kinds of soup after realising he’d forgotten to check with Stan or Kyle what Kenny liked, and got the painkillers that you swallowed and the painkillers you dissolved in water just in case Kenny was picky or couldn’t swallow pills. He rushed back into Token’s car, pushing down the rising fear that they wouldn’t make it back in time for class. 

Token opted to wait in the car, not wanting to run the risk of catching whatever it was Kenny had. Tweek knocked on the door at first, startled to find it already open a crack, and pushed his way into the house. 

It was empty. 

He shuffled through to where he knew Kenny’s room was, knocking on the door rapidly, before waiting for a response. 

_“_ _Cm’in_ _?”_

He opened the door and peaked his head round the corner, gnawing down on his bottom lip. “Hey, Kenny. I-uh-I got you some soup, but I didn’t know what kind you like so I got you three different types just so you had like an option or something though I couldn’t get more than three so you might not like any of them.” 

Blue eyes appeared from under the thin cover, messy blonde hair splayed out across his pillow. “I like all soup.” 

“Okay. I got you some painkillers too. I-I didn’t know what kind you take, so…” 

“You didn’t have to,” Kenny’s muffled voice spoke. “I’ll be alright. Aren’t you missing school?” 

“Token drove me.” 

“Shit, dude, I’m sorry-!” 

“You did the same for me. It’s the least I can do. You-it’s probably my bug anyway.” 

Kenny didn’t have an argument for that. 

Tweek disappeared to the boy’s kitchen, finding a clean bowl and cleaning it again just for good measure, before he emptied a tin of soup in and popped it in the microwave. He re-cleaned a glass to fill with water, balancing all the goods in his hands as he moved back to Kenny’s bedroom. 

He dropped off the food and accepted Kenny’s gratitude, glancing at his phone to see that he was running out of time. There really wasn’t long to mess around. 

“Thanks. For this.” 

Tweek looked down with wide eyes. “Oh. Uh…you’re welcome?” 

Kenny grinned a wide crooked smile that had Tweek’s heart lurching in place and his cheeks setting on fire. Tweek screeched out a goodbye before he ran from the house, scrambling into Token’s car a little out of breath and insisting that they  _drive now_. Thankfully the darker skinned boy didn’t argue. 

He apologised to Craig in advance in case his friend got sick too, to which the raven teen shrugged and said he didn’t see anything wrong with being allowed to hang out in bed for three days straight. 

It wasn’t till later that night when he received at text from Kenny with a big thank you that he decided he didn’t really mind if he’d been spiked with a love potion. It would’ve been worth it to see more of that crooked smile. 

**Author's Note:**

> I like to imagine that Tweek and Kenny would be really good together even just like friends because one's pretty crazy and the other goes through some pretty crazy shit.


End file.
